


Heart of a Monster (Fraxus Fantasy AU) - FT Reverse Bang 2020

by alittlebitweird4



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: AU, Fairy Tail Reverse Bang 2020, Fantasy, Fantasy AU, M/M, fairy tail - Freeform, fraxus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:09:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 4,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26471656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alittlebitweird4/pseuds/alittlebitweird4
Summary: Freed is a peaceful spirit living on the outskirts of the kingdom of Magnolia. Frightened by this mystical being and misunderstanding his intentions, the humans gather a mob to vanquish the spirit. After a difficult battle, the humans successfully capture the spirit’s heart; however, instead of killing him, this act transforms the once kind spirit into a horrible monster. The king sends his strongest knight, Laxus to finish the job. But Laxus ends up growing closer to Freed than he expected.
Relationships: Laxus Dreyar/Freed Justine
Kudos: 21
Collections: Fairy Tail Reverse Bang 2020





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I am so excited to show off my piece for the Fairy Tail Reverse Bang hosted by @ftguildevents on Tumblr! This was my first time participating in something like this and I had a blast! My fanfiction is based on fanart created by the amazingly talented @fairiesherefairiesthere on Tumblr which you can check out here: https://fairiesherefairiesthere.tumblr.com/post/629225627707490304/my-third-and-last-piece-for-the I have been wanting to write something like this but didn't know where to start but her piece gave me the inspiration that I needed. I am really proud of how it came out (although there are other things I would have added in if I had the time). Regardless, I hope y'all enjoy this. Thanks so much to my fabulous beta reader @onyxbaku on Twitter who, among other things, helped me get Laxus to sound more Laxus-y.

Once upon a time, a spirit was said to be lurking on the outskirts of the kingdom of Magnolia. The humans, frightened by this foreign presence, plead to their king for protection. When the king brushed aside their fears, they decided to take matters into their own hands. A group of villagers headed up the mountain with the intention of capturing the spirit’s heart as a trophy and as a warning to other paranormal entities. 

“Freed! They’re coming!” Evergreen shouted, pointing at the mob ascending the mountain - a pulsing mass of fire and anger approaching the castle.

“My babies and I can take care of them,” Bickslow announced, raising up the wooden dolls which contained the souls he controlled.

“Hold your attacks,” Freed replied calmly.

With a loud bang, the door came down and the humans flooded into the castle. Freed remained seated, Bickslow and Evergreen on either side of him ready to spring into action if needed.

“Monsters!” a man yelled, stepping forward from the group with a sword in his hand.

“Rude,” Evergreen muttered, earning a glare from Freed.

“This is your chance to get far away from here and never bother us again. Otherwise…” the man said, raising his sword, “we’ll take matters into our own hands.”

“Yeah! Tell them, Trevor!” The villagers cheered the man on.

“We have no quarrel with your people. We do not wish to fight you,” Freed replied.

“What? I do!” Bickslow retaliated, his babies chanting “Fight! Fight!” as they floated around him.

The crowd gasped. One young man, in horrified disbelief, said, “It’s true! A soul-stealing demon!”

“Bickslow!” Freed reprimanded. Bickslow replied with a nervous laugh, realizing that he had made the situation worse.

“A-and I hear the woman is a witch!” the young man continued.

“Witch?” Evergreen gasped. “Who’s going around calling me a witch?! I’m clearly a beautiful fairy!”

“That leader must be really terrifying to be able to give orders to a demon and a witch.”

“I’m not a witch!”

“Then let’s cut off the head of the snake!” The first man, Trevor, cheered. He charged into battle with the rest of the mob quickly following suit.

Freed sighed. “Please, we do not want to hurt you. We only wish to continue on with our lives here in peace.” He was drowned out by the commotion. The mob was on them in full force and Evergreen and Bickslow were beginning to fight back. “Evergreen, Bickslow, do not kill or maim anyone. Do only what you must to survive. Don’t let them turn us into monst-” his words were cut short by a dagger plunging into his chest. He looked down to see the same terrified young man from earlier.

“Take its heart as a prize, Michael!” someone called to the boy. The young human reached into Freed’s chest and pulled out his heart. He held up his prize hesitantly to the rest of the mob, who cheered violently. Bickslow and Evergreen screamed and tried to run to Freed through the mob.

Thunder rumbled. The castle shook. Instead of dying, Freed began to transform. He let out a guttural scream as he grew in size and sprouted giant horns. The hole where his heart had been glowed, the pulsing light mimicking the lost heartbeat.

“Freed!” Evergreen finally reached her friend; however, the greeting she received was not friendly by any means. The newly transformed Freed reached out and mercilessly plucked the fairy’s wings. As Evergreen screeched in pain, she was covered in glowing purple runes. When the glowing subsided, she was gone.

The mob looked around in terror. “Up there!” someone shouted, pointing at a window. Evergreen was trapped in the stained glass, her magic separated from her and secured in a second window.

“Freed… what did you do?” Bickslow’s horrified shock quickly turned into anger and he charged. Freed picked each of the flying dolls out of the air. “My babies!” Before Bickslow could transfer the souls or do anything else to fight back, he too was covered in those glowing purple runes. On the wall facing Evergreen’s windows, Bickslow and his babies occupied two more.

The humans fled the castle as quickly as they could, trampling over each other in panic. Some of them were captured by the monster. Those who made it out ran back home without a look back at the castle. Their mission was a success, but had an unexpected outcome. Instead of dying, the spirit was transformed into a terrible monster. 

The young man who had wrenched the spirit's heart from his chest went to the king for help. He described truthfully what had happened and what he had done, not sparing any gruesome details of the ensuing transformation and violence.

The king instructed his subject to bury the heart and to not spread his story. The monarch's worst fears were coming true and he wished to sweep everything under the rug as quickly as possible. So, to fix the mess, he decided to call in the local magical knight to quickly dispose of the demon.

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Laxus smiled smugly, quite satisfied with himself. He had just come from a meeting during which the king begged for his help. There was just something about having royalty bow down to him instead of the other way around. He supposed it was just another perk of being the resident magical knight. 

After preparing some supplies, he set out from the small town in the direction of the ominous castle whose occupant had been making the locals uneasy. The closer he got, the more he could feel the darkness emanating from the place. _Heh._ _I'm gonna show this demon who's boss,_ Laxus thought with a smirk. The prospect of putting a horrible monster in its place got his blood pumping with excitement and confidence.

Standing in front of the castle door, he took a deep breath. Then, he stormed in with a flash of lightning. Subtlety was never his strong suit. However, as soon as he passed the threshold, he found himself caught in a trap of glowing purple runes. He writhed in pain, feeling as if his very life force was being drained by the runes. He soon found out that it wasn’t his life force, but rather his magic that was being ripped from him. His eyes followed a beam of bright light from his body to the stained glass windows lining the room. He watched in horror as the pattern on one of the windows became that of lighting bolts - Laxus’ magic. It appeared that several other magical abilities, and even a couple of people, had been trapped here as well. On one side, a woman looked down at him in anguish from her stained glass prison. Next to her was a pattern of wings, which Laxus guessed had once belonged to her. Opposite the woman was a man in a helmet. Laxus wondered if this man had been another knight sent in to do this job; however, he quickly dismissed the thought as nothing else about the man suggested knighthood. Beside the helmet-wearing man was a window panel containing some sort of wooden creatures.

_ What happened here?  _ Laxus wondered in disgusted horror as the last of his power was drained from him. He could hear heavy footsteps descending the stairs and coming towards him. His head was spinning and he was in pain but he managed to make out the sight of a towering figure with large horns and a gaping hole in its chest. The demon smiled sickly at his new prey. The glistening fangs and cold eyes were the last things Laxus saw before everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

When Laxus finally came to, those horrible images he had witnessed came flooding back to him. Drowning in nightmares, he gasped for air. After a few desperate breaths, he finally calmed down enough to take in his surroundings. He noticed a square of runes on the ground around him. He reached out his arm and the runes came shooting up, forming a glowing cage and singeing his hand upon contact. “Shit, that actually hurt!” he complained.

A deep, slow chuckle sounded in response to his pain. Laxus looked up to see the same demon he had glimpsed earlier. The creature was sitting on a throne and wearing an expression like that of a cat playing with a mouse.

Laxus swallowed his fear and stood up, locking eyes with the creature before him. “Demon! I have been sent here by my king to vanquish you once and for all,” his voice resonated clearly and loudly through the castle.

“Is that so? And how is that going for you?” The creature retorted with a smirk. “You have no magic and can’t leave that square. You will be my plaything until you rot or until I grow bored of you.” His voice was gravelly and distorted. Whatever this creature was he did not look or sound human. Laxus recalled some of the old wives’ tales he’d heard about people who’d had their souls stolen and wondered if this was what they turned into.

Laxus’ eye twitched slightly with anger at being belittled by the demon. “I’ll find a way out,” he declared with cool arrogance, though he knew deep down that the odds were not in his favour. “And when I do, watch out. I’m going to make sure that you never terrorize any humans again.”

The demon chuckled at Laxus’ baseless optimism, a horrible sound that somehow resembled that of breaking glass. “Whatever you say… hero,” the last word was dripping with so much venom that Laxus shuddered involuntarily.

Growing bored of Laxus, the demon turned and left up the staircase. Long green hair and a cape adorned with stars flowed behind him. Laxus could imagine children wishing upon stars at night only for this demon to pluck those stars out of the sky and wear those shattered dreams.

“Hey! Come back here!” Laxus called into the empty space where the demon had been. He was alone, with only the terrified faces frozen in the stained glass to keep him company.


	4. Chapter 4

The following morning, Laxus woke from a shallow and restless sleep on the cold hard floor of the castle. He was startled by the sight of the demon looming over him, studying him.

“Are you finally gonna let me out of here so we can settle this like men?” Laxus asked.

“You don’t see me as a man. Only as a monster,” the demon’s distorted voice made Laxus feel sick. He couldn’t argue with that statement. The demon retreated back to his throne from which he observed his prey.

“So… who are they?” Laxus asked, gesturing to the stained glass, trying to make conversation. “Those are real people in there, right?”

“I think… I think they were my... friends?” The word “friends” was the last thing that Laxus had expected to hear and sounded especially wrong coming out of the demon’s mouth.

“Some friend you are,” Laxus muttered.

“What was that?”

“If that’s how you treat your friends, I can’t wait to see what you have in store for me,” the knight said sarcastically, his cocky optimism returning.

The light emanating from the hole in the demon’s chest grew brighter and pulsed rapidly. “You know nothing,” he said angrily.

“So what did your ‘friends’ call you?” Laxus asked flippantly, ignoring the creature’s growing anger. “You must have a name, right?”

“No. I don’t.”

“Huh? Then what do people call you?”

“No one is calling me anything now,” he gestured to the stained glass. After a pause he added, “I think I had a name at some point. I can’t remember it now though and it is not important,” as he spoke, his tone grew angrier.

“It really bothers you doesn’t it?”

“Do not mock me, human.”

“Geez, don’t be so sensitive. I wasn’t-” The demon waved his hand and the runes glowed, causing Laxus to fall asleep mid sentence.


	5. Chapter 5

Even after several days, Laxus still was not accustomed to waking up on the castle floor. “Why haven’t you just killed me by now?” Laxus asked, his voice coarse and weak from lack of food and water.

“I… don’t know.”

“All you ever say is ‘I don’t know.’ What the fuck do you know, then?” Ignoring the demon’s angry growls he continued, “Wait a minute… you can’t kill me. That’s the only reason that makes sense. You can’t kill me, can you?” The demon’s silence confirmed Laxus’ suspicions. “So why not, then? You have me trapped here, starving to death, because you’re too weak to kill me yourself? Is that it?”

“I told you I DON’T KNOW,” the demon roared, the light in his chest pulsing angrily.

“What, you got amnesia? Did you hit your oversized head?”

"I… didn't fight back,” he spoke slowly.

Laxus raised an eyebrow skeptically.

“When the humans came… I… didn’t fight back,” he sounded confused as if even he himself couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t fight back against attackers.

"Bull. Shit," Laxus taunted, angering the demon further. "I saw the guys who confronted you. Given the shape they were in you can't honestly tell me you were a gracious host."

The creature thought for a moment but it seemed as though he couldn’t fully remember or understand what had transpired on that day. “What does it matter?” He asked angrily. He paused and sighed before asking, “Did I kill any of them?”

“Why do you care?”

“I don’t know.”

Laxus sighed, then thought for a moment. The people who had come running back from the castle had been injured but not fatally, and those unlucky few who had been captured eventually found their way back as well. “No. I think everyone managed to survive.”

“Why didn’t I kill them?”

“Why the hell are you asking me?”

The demon slumped in his throne and took a deep breath. “I… don’t know who I am. When the humans came… they changed me.”

“What do you mean changed?”

“What happened exactly is foggy. I don’t even know when it happened, though I can guess based on your arrival and… the visions.”

“Visions?”

“Pieces of that day. They’ve been coming back to me in fragments. Those two,” he gestured to the figures in the stained glass, “they stood by me. I told them not to fight. I don’t know why I did that,” he spoke as though he was trying to recount someone else’s memories. “One of the humans - a young man - he charged at me. I felt a wave of anger and then… nothing. The next thing I remember is seeing humans fleeing back towards the kingdom.”

“So you conveniently don’t remember any of the things that  _ you  _ did. The things that put dozens of people in the hospital.Your story is that humans stormed into your castle and attacked you and your ‘friends’ unprovoked. One young guy came at you, a towering demon, and busted you up so bad you blacked out. And then they all decided to run away?”

“I know how it sounds but that is the truth. I don’t care if you don’t believe me. Your opinion does not matter.”

“Well if you really believed that you wouldn’t be keeping me around for these meaningless conversations,” Laxus muttered.

After a pause, the demon added, “I don’t think I was always… like this. That boy… he took something from me.”

“Oh so the big bad humans stole from you too?”

The demon, lost in thought and grappling with his hazy memories, ignored Laxus’ snide remark. He hesitantly brought a hand up to the hole in his chest. “There was something here,” he said in a faraway voice.

“Your heart?” Laxus asked, puzzled.

“Heart?”

“Ya know the organ in a person’s chest that pumps blood through their body? The thing people associate with kindness and… love.”

“Love? What is that?”

“You don’t know what love is?”

The demon shook his head.

“Well I guess it’s like… a feeling,” Laxus blushed. He wasn’t easily flustered but then again he had never before found himself having to explain love to a demon. “Like you would do anything for someone because… they mean the world to you and make you feel… whole.”

The demon touched the hole where his heart had presumably once been.

  
  



	6. Chapter 6

“Hey! Restore my magic,” Laxus demanded boldly.

The demon chuckled. “Why do you suppose I do that?”

“If you don’t, then I’ll have a harder time marching into that town and getting your heart back,” he replied matter-of-factly.

“You would do that?”

“Of course. They had no right to take it from you in the first place.”

“But if I give you back your power, then there’s nothing to guarantee that you will return. What is stopping you from leaving here and never coming back? Or coming back with an army to kill me?” Freed asked, skeptically.

“I’m a man of my word.”

“You gave your word to your king that you would kill me.”

“No, I gave him my word that I would take care of the problem. I get your heart back and you stop being all monster-y, right?”

“I think so.”

“Eh, good enough,” Laxus shrugged, smiling slightly. Noticing that the demon still had reservations he added, “Trust me.”

The demon sighed. Suddenly, Laxus’ skin crawled with purple runes.

“What the hell?” Laxus exclaimed. Though he shortly began feeling reinvigorated. He saw the lightning pattern disappearing from the stained glass and felt the familiar tingle of electricity sparking in his veins.

“Your magic has been returned to you,” the demon said, eyeing Laxus warily.

“Oh yeah I feel stronger now! Time to go get that heart,” Laxus declared. “I wish I knew what to call you.”

“I think my name was… Freed.”

“Okay, then. See you soon, Freed.”

“See you soon…”

“Laxus. Laxus Dreyar.”


	7. Chapter 7

“I demand an audience with the king!” Laxus easily pushed through the palace guards.

“Oh, Laxus! You’re back! Does that mean the mission was a success? Is that horrid monster finally dead?” The king asked hopefully.

“He’s only a monster because you people made him one!”

“Preposterous! I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Yeah right,” Laxus scoffed. “That’s the reason you just sent me, right? You wanted it done quickly and quietly.”

“I don’t like your tone, Laxus. You should show respect to your king.”

“Ha! Then you should be a king worthy of respect.”

“I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“I’ll let myself out. If you’re not gonna give me answers then you’re just in my way.”

Laxus stormed out of the castle, fuming. His quest wasn’t going as smoothly as expected. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar figure.

“Michael.”

The boy jumped and attempted to avoid Laxus’ gaze.

“Michael… you were there, right? At the demon castle? Tell me what happened that day.” Remembering the anguished look on Freed’s face, he grew more desperate. “Please,” he added sincerely.

Michael was shocked at the desperation in Laxus’ voice. “Well…” he began, “one of the men from the village said he was gathering a mob to take care of a spirit living on the outskirts of the kingdom. Spirits make a lot of people anxious and the king wasn’t doing anything about it. So a group of us went to the old castle where the spirit has been seen. I honestly didn’t actually expect to see anyone… but the spirit was there with his two friends. The spirit didn’t want to fight. I… I think I messed up, Laxus.”

“What did you do, Michael?”

“I took the spirit’s heart,” his voice was trembling and barely audible. He swallowed hard then continued with his story. “I made everything worse. He didn’t die. He… changed. He got bigger and scarier and… so much angrier. He even attacked his own friends.” Tears started to form in the boy’s eyes.

Hearing Freed’s story confirmed renewed Laxus’ motivation. “Where is his heart?”

“The king told me to bury it. I’m not even supposed to be telling anyone this story. Wait… you’re not-”

“Working for the king? I’m supposed to be. But I went to the castle and saw what became of that spirit. He’s in pain, Michael. I won’t turn you in to the king. I just want to fix this mess. So… where did you bury the heart?”

“I didn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to just cover up the mess I made and pretend it never happened.” Michael disappeared into his home and came back out shortly clutching a wooden box. He looked around nervously, checking for anyone who might be watching, before handing the box to Laxus.

“Thank you, Michael.”

Michael nodded. As Laxus was turning to leave, the younger man added, “Please… tell him I’m sorry.”

“Will do.”


	8. Chapter 8

The king must have expected Laxus would retrieve Freed’s heart. The royal army surrounded the kingdom’s border, blocking Laxus’ path to Freed.

“How could you side with a monster, Laxus?” One of the knights implored.

“How could  _ you _ ?” Laxus retorted. “Your king is a liar. The only monster out there was created by the people of this kingdom. Get out of my way so I can fix this mess.”

“Stand down, Laxus,” the head knight warned, brandishing his sword. It made Laxus laugh.

“You really think you can stop me? I can crush you all like mere ants under my boot.”

On their leader’s command, the army charged at Laxus. Laxus retaliated with lightning. A sword caught him in the arm, but it didn’t slow him down. On the contrary, it angered him and drove him to fight harder. “This is for Freed,” he said, knocking down the knights in his way with a bolt of lightning.

Laxus broke through the barricade and ran on autopilot to the castle, clutching the wooden box tightly to his chest.

  
  



	9. Chapter 9

Laxus crashed through the door, panting after having run all the way up the mountain.

“You came back,” Freed marveled.

“Of course… I did,” Laxus said, still trying to catch his breath. He held up the box triumphantly. However, the smug look on his face quickly disappeared. “Shit. Someone’s coming. They must have followed me.”

“Who followed you?”

Freed’s question was answered by the royal army bursting through the door of the castle.

“They did,” Laxus answered. He tucked the box away in his coat and prepared to fight.

Seeing that Laxus was outnumbered, Freed made a decision. The stained glass glowed brightly and two people came out of it. The two looked at Freed, then at the army. Though disoriented, they did not hesitate to back up Laxus in defending their old friend.

“Laxus,” one of the knights began, “if you’re going to defend monsters then you will be vanquished like one!”

“Oh  _ we  _ are not the monsters here!” The woman from the stained glass argued.

Laxus took her words to heart. She was right. He took the box out of his coat and called to Freed, “Heads up!”

The box hurtled towards him and he caught it. He opened it hesitantly and his heart, as if pulled by an imaginary force, flew to his chest where it belonged. With a flash of light, Freed changed back into his original form.

Though smaller and admittedly less intimidating, he walked confidently up to the fight. “I am not a monster, and so I will give you one more chance to back down from this ridiculous fight,” he said calmly to the army. The two figures from the stained glass looked at each other and nodded before falling into line behind him. Freed held out his hand to Laxus. Laxus hesitated before grasping it and joining his new friends. “Now,” Freed began, addressing the troops, “would you really like to charge against four powerful magical beings who just want to continue living their lives unbothered, or can we handle this like adults?”

One by one, the soldiers began to lower their swords and mutter apologies for disturbing the spirit and his friends. “Good choice,” Freed replied. “Now go back to your kingdom. Tell your people that we mean them no harm. And tell your king that we will not be so forgiving next time something like this happens.”

The soldiers filed out quickly with frantic gasps of “yes, sir!”

Once they had all gone, Freed sighed and turned to his friends. “I’m so sorry!”


	10. Chapter 10

“I’m so sorry for the way I treated all three of you. Though I’ll admit I do not fully remember all of it. Without my heart… I just felt so… empty. And I lashed out. I apologize deeply.”

“It’s okay, Freed, we know that wasn’t really you,” the woman reassured him, patting his arm.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it!” The helmeted man chimed in. Wooden dolls floated behind him repeating his words.

“Thank you, Evergreen. Thank you, Bickslow.” Freed looked pleadingly up at Laxus. Now that Freed was back to his normal appearance, Laxus was the taller of the two.

“Yeah. It wasn’t your fault,” Laxus replied gruffly, fighting back a blush.

“Thank you, Laxus,” Freed replied, relieved. “Now. What will you do? I’m afraid you probably won’t be welcomed back into your kingdom.”

“Yeah I guess not. I don’t think I’d want to go back anyway after what they did.”

“Well… there are plenty of rooms here,” Freed stated. “You’re welcome to stay if you want.”

“Really?”

“After all the trouble I caused, the least I can offer you is shelter and protection. I promise you can actually have a proper room this time, not just a rune cage in the foyer.”

“Heh, well that sounds like a pretty good deal, then.”

Freed reached out his hand and Laxus shook it, sealing the deal.

  
  



	11. Chapter 11

Laxus took some time to explore the castle before finally venturing into his own room.

“Laxus?” Freed stepped in from the hallway and approached the man hesitantly.

“Yeah?”

“I wanted to say thank you for sticking up for me like that and for getting my heart back. I know you sacrificed a lot even though I did nothing to deserve your kindness.”

Laxus was shocked by Freed’s honesty and sincerity. “It was nothing,” he declared with a shrug. “Besides, you’re a lot nicer with your heart than without so it is a win-win for everyone, right?”

“Heh I guess so,” Freed blushed. “Still, it means a lot to me. I feel like my words are not enough to express my gratitude.” He pondered this for a moment and then moved closer to Laxus. He quickly placed a kiss on the other man’s lips.

Laxus was stunned, but only for a moment. He quickly recovered from the shock and wrapped an arm around Freed’s slender waist, pulling him closer to kiss him deeply. They stood there, entwined in each other's arms, in a well-deserved escape from the chaos they had experienced that week.


End file.
